Distributed metadata-based cluster computing

ABSTRACT

A shared database platform can interface with a cluster computing platform over a network through a connector. The data transferred over the network can include metadata result packages that can be distributed to worker nodes of the cluster computing platform, which receive the metadata objects and access the result data for further processing on a staging platform, such as a scalable storage platform.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIORITY APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/719,218, filed on Dec. 18, 2019, the contents of which areincorporated herein in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to special-purpose machinesthat manage databases and improvements to such variants, and to thetechnologies by which such special-purpose machines become improvedcompared to other special-purpose machines for performing distributedcomputing using database data.

BACKGROUND

Distributed processing can be used to create analytical compute sourcesto analyze data. Some of these distributed computing systems include acluster of nodes including a master node and multiple worker nodes thatfunction in concert per the master node's instructions to complete dataprocessing tasks. While these distributed systems enable powerfulcomputing, inefficiencies such as bottlenecks can still occur.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various ones of the appended drawings merely illustrate exampleembodiments of the present disclosure and should not be considered aslimiting its scope.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example computing environment in which anetwork-based data warehouse system can implement cluster computingusing a metadata connector, in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of a compute servicemanager, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating components of an executionplatform, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 shows an example data architecture for duster computing using ametadata connector, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show example flow diagrams for implementing clustercomputing using a metadata connector, in accordance with someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 shows an example network lane diagram for implementing clustercomputing using a metadata connector, in accordance with someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in theform of a computer system within which a set of instructions may beexecuted for causing the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description that follows includes systems, methods, techniques,instruction sequences, and computing machine program products thatembody illustrative embodiments of the disclosure. In the followingdescription, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific detailsare set forth in order to provide an understanding of variousembodiments of the inventive subject matter. It will be evident,however, to those skilled in the art, that embodiments of the inventivesubject matter may be practiced without these specific details. Ingeneral, well-known instruction instances, protocols, structures, andtechniques are not necessarily shown in detail

As discussed, inefficiencies in distributed computing systems can occur.One type of inefficiency includes a master node bottleneck in accessingand distributing data for computation. For example, if the clustercomputing system's data source generates a very large set of result datafor processing (e.g., query result data), the master node can be putunder a heavy load when it attempts to access and distribute the verylarge result set to the worker nodes for processing.

To this end, a metadata connector system can be implemented to connect ashared database system with a cluster computing system where a query isexecuted directly against the shared database processing system and thenodes of the cluster access the query result data on cloud storagedirectly, without having to connect to the shared database system. Insome example embodiments, a query from the cluster computing system(e.g., Apache Spark) uses a shared multitenant database processingsystem (e.g., Snowflake®) as a data source, where the connection betweenthe two is implemented using an application programming interface (API)connector configured for database access (e.g., Java DatabaseConnectivity (JDBC®)). In some example embodiments, the clustercomputing system issues a query through the API connector to the shareddatabase system, which generates query result data that is written to astaging area as files. For example, the shared database system can storethe query result data to an external stage such as Amazon S3 bucketsusing COPY UNLOAD SQL statements, where COPY copies query result datafrom the database system and UNLOAD transfers the data to the stagingarea as files. According to some example embodiments, the master nodethen accesses the staging area (e.g., accesses the S3 buckets) todetermine what is in the result files for distribution of the files tothe worker nodes for further processing.

If the result files written to the staging area are very large (e.g.,terabytes in size), the operations of the master node accessing theresult files and/or transferring them to the worker nodes can causesignificant delays. To mitigate overloading the master node of thecluster computing system, the API connector (e.g., JDBC) executes thequery directly against the shared database system without using the COPYUNLOAD statements (e.g., SELECT statement against the shared databasesystem) and stores the result files in the staging platform. The shareddatabase system then sends some of the result file data to the APIconnector to generate an object metadata set comprising a plurality ofcluster serial objects describing the remaining bulk of the result filesin the staging area. For example, if the result files are written aschunks to S3, the shared database system sends, to the API connector,the first chunk of the result files (e.g., when the first chunk isgenerally small in size), and metadata of the other chunks (e.g.,metadata including result chunk files URLs on S3, chunk sizes,credential data to access the result files on S3). The API connectorthen sends a list of the cluster storage objects to the master node ofthe cluster computing system, which can then distribute the list ofcluster storage objects to the worker nodes.

Worker nodes receive the cluster storage objects and perform a functioncall to the API connector to retrieve the result file data directly fromthe staging area (via the API connector). In this way, the API connectordoes not read the actual result file data (the API connector onlyhandles it as a wrapped metadata, or an envelope/list of objects), andthe master node does not need to access and distribute actual resultfile data but only distributes storage object metadata that describesthe result files, where the storage object metadata functions as anenvelope and the objects are serialized and thereby can be distributedto worker nodes and concurrently executed and processed by any of theworker nodes, as discussed in further detail below. In this way, evenwhen the query result data set generated by the shared database is huge,the metadata is small and serialized as objects, so the workloaddistribution and application responsiveness is significantly improved.

One benefit of the connector approach, in addition to significantlylightening the load on the master node, and thereby avoiding asignificant bottleneck, includes reducing the network traffic of theresult files transferred over the network by half or more. In otherapproaches, the master node receives the result data and then transfersthe result data to the worker nodes. In the metadata connector approach,the data is only transmitted from the shared database system to thestaging area, and the master node and API connector only transferdistributable metadata that is significantly smaller than the resultfiles' sizes. Additionally, the metadata connector approach enables theamount of data to be handled to scale considerably in response toincreased loads, by increasing the quantity of nodes in the stagingarea. For instance, where the staging platform is an elastic scalablesystem such as Amazon S3, the amount of nodes in the staging platformcan be increased to better serve requests from the worker nodes (e.g.,as the number of worker nodes increases and/or result file sizeincreases, correspondingly increase an amount of staging platform nodesto respond to the worker nodes), which avoids bottlenecking the datathrough the master node and avoids overloading a static amount of nodesin the staging area.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example shared data processing platform 100 inwhich a network-based data warehouse system 102 functions as a datasource for a cluster computing platform 150 connected by way of adatabase connector interface, such as a API connector 145, in accordancewith some embodiments of the present disclosure. To avoid obscuring theinventive subject matter with unnecessary detail, various functionalcomponents that are not germane to conveying an understanding of theinventive subject matter have been omitted from the figures. However, askilled artisan will readily recognize that various additionalfunctional components may be included as part of the shared dataprocessing platform 100 to facilitate additional functionality that isnot specifically described herein.

As shown, the shared data processing platform 100 comprises thenetwork-based data warehouse system 102, a cloud computing storageplatform 104 (e.g., a storage platform, an AWS® service such as S3,Microsoft Azure®, or Google Cloud Services), and a user device 106. Thenetwork-based data warehouse system 102 is a network-based system usedfor storing and accessing data (e.g., internally storing data, accessingexternal remotely located data) in a multitenant integrated manner, andreporting and analysis of the integrated data from the one or moredisparate sources (e.g., the cloud computing storage platform 104),where additional analytical computing can be performed by the clustercomputing platform 150. The cloud computing storage platform 104comprises a plurality of computing machines and provides on-demandcomputer system resources such as data storage and computing power tothe network-based data warehouse system 102.

The user device 106 (e.g., a user device such as a laptop computer)comprises one or more computing machines (e.g., a client device such asa laptop computer) that execute a software component 108 (e.g., browseraccessed cloud service, native app such as a mobile app for a mobileoperating system) to provide additional functionality to users of thenetwork-based data warehouse system 102.

The software component 108 comprises a set of machine-readableinstructions (e.g., code) that, when executed by the user device 106,cause the user device 106 to provide certain functionality. The softwarecomponent 108 may operate on input data and generates result data basedon processing, analyzing, or otherwise transforming the input data. Asan example, the software component 108 can be a browser that accesses acloud run customer application on the cluster computing platform 150 forcomputation by the master node 152 and worker nodes 154-160, asdiscussed in further detail below.

The network-based data warehouse system 102 comprises an accessmanagement system 110, a compute service manager 112, an executionplatform 114, and a database 116. The access management system 110enables administrative users to manage access to resources and servicesprovided by the network-based data warehouse system 102. Administrativeusers can create and manage users, roles, and groups, and usepermissions to allow or deny access to resources and services. Theaccess management system 110 can store share data that securely managesshared access to the storage resources of the cloud computing storageplatform 104 amongst different users of the network-based data warehousesystem 102, as discussed in further detail below.

The compute service manager 112 coordinates and manages operations ofthe network-based data warehouse system 102. The compute service manager112 also performs query optimization and compilation as well as managingclusters of computing services that provide compute resources (e.g.,virtual warehouses, virtual machines, EC2 clusters) in the executionplatform 114. The compute service manager 112 can support any number ofclient accounts such as end users providing data storage and retrievalrequests, system administrators managing the systems and methodsdescribed herein, and other components/devices that interact withcompute service manager 112.

The compute service manager 112 is also coupled to database 116, whichis associated with the entirety of the data managed by the shared dataprocessing platform 100. The database 116 stores data pertaining tovarious functions and aspects associated with the network-based datawarehouse system 102 and its users. For example, data against whichqueries can be executed by a customer application running on clustercomputing platform 150 can be stored in database 116 as internal data orin the storage platform 122 as external data.

In some embodiments, database 116 includes a summary of data stored inremote data storage systems as well as data available from one or morelocal caches. Additionally, database 116 may include informationregarding how data is organized in the remote data storage systems andthe local caches. Database 116 allows systems and services to determinewhether a piece of data needs to be accessed without loading oraccessing the actual data from a storage device. The compute servicemanager 112 is further coupled to an execution platform 114, whichprovides multiple computing resources (e.g., virtual warehouses) thatexecute various data storage and data retrieval tasks, as discussed ingreater detail below.

Execution platform 114 is coupled to multiple data storage devices 124-1to 124-n that are part of a cloud computing storage platform 104.Although two data storage devices 124-1 and 124-n are shown in FIG. 1,execution platform 114 is capable of communicating with any number ofdata storage devices as part of an elastic storage system. In someembodiments, data storage devices 124-1 to 124-n are cloud-based storagedevices located in one or more geographic locations. For example, datastorage devices 124-1 to 124-n may be part of a public cloudinfrastructure or a private cloud infrastructure. Data storage devices124-1 to 124-n may be hard disk drives (HDDs), solid state drives(SSDs), storage clusters, Amazon S3 storage systems or any other datastorage technology. Additionally, cloud computing storage platform 104may include distributed file systems (such as Hadoop Distributed FileSystems (HDFS)), object storage systems, and the like.

The execution platform 114 comprises a plurality of compute nodes (e.g.,virtual warehouses). A set of processes on a compute node executes aquery plan compiled by the compute service manager 112. The set ofprocesses can include: a first process to execute the query plan; asecond process to monitor and delete micro-partition files using a leastrecently used (LRU) policy, and implement an out of memory (OOM) errormitigation process; a third process that extracts health informationfrom process logs and status information to send back to the computeservice manager 112; a fourth process to establish communication withthe compute service manager 112 after a system boot; and a fifth processto handle all communication with a compute cluster for a given jobprovided by the compute service manager 112 and to communicateinformation back to the compute service manager 112 and other computenodes of the execution platform 114.

The cloud computing storage platform 104 also comprises an accessmanagement system 118 and a cloud interface 120 (e.g., API gateway forcloud computing storage platform 104). As with the access managementsystem 110, the access management system 118 allows users to create andmanage users, roles, and groups, and use permissions to allow or denyaccess to cloud services and resources. The access management system 110of the network-based data warehouse system 102 and the access managementsystem 118 of the cloud computing storage platform 104 can communicateand share information so as to enable access and management of resourcesand services shared by users of both the network-based data warehousesystem 102 and the cloud computing storage platform 104. The cloudinterface 120 handles tasks involved in accepting and processingconcurrent API calls, including traffic management, authorization andaccess control, monitoring, and API version management. The cloudinterface 120 provides HTTP proxy service for creating, publishing,maintaining, securing, and monitoring APIs (e.g., REST APIs).

In some embodiments, communication links between elements of the shareddata processing platform 100 are implemented via one or more datacommunication networks. These data communication networks may utilizeany communication protocol and any type of communication medium. In someembodiments, the data communication networks are a combination of two ormore data communication networks (or sub-networks) coupled to oneanother. In alternate embodiments, these communication links areimplemented using any type of communication medium and any communicationprotocol.

As shown in FIG. 1, data storage devices 124-1 to 124-N are decoupledfrom the computing resources associated with the execution platform 114.That is, new virtual warehouses can be created and terminated in theexecution platform 114 and additional data storage devices can becreated and terminated on the cloud computing storage platform 104 in anindependent manner (e.g., cloud computing storage platform 104 is anexternal network platform, such as Amazon AWS, separately managed butlinked to network-based data warehouse system 102). This architecturesupports dynamic changes to the network-based data warehouse system 102based on the changing data storage/retrieval needs as well as thechanging needs of the users and systems accessing the shared dataprocessing platform 100. The support of dynamic changes allows thenetwork-based data warehouse system 102 to scale quickly in response tochanging demands on the systems and components within the network-baseddata warehouse system 102. The decoupling of the computing resourcesfrom the data storage devices supports the storage of large amounts ofdata without requiring a corresponding large amount of computingresources. Similarly, this decoupling of resources supports asignificant increase in the computing resources utilized at a particulartime without requiring a corresponding increase in the available datastorage resources. Additionally, the decoupling of resources enablesdifferent accounts to handle creating additional compute resources toprocess data shared by other users without affecting the other users'systems. For instance, a data provider may have three compute resourcesand share data with a data consumer, and the data consumer may generatenew compute resources to execute queries against the shared data, wherethe new compute resources are managed by the data consumer and do notaffect or interact with the compute resources of the data provider.

The cluster computing platform 150 is a cluster computing environmentthat can extend the computing analysis of the network-based datawarehouse system 102. For example, whereas the network-based datawarehouse system 102 can be configured to function with the cloudcomputing storage platform 104 to enable a decoupled data warehouse thatcan scale, the cluster computing platform 150 can be a big data orno-SQL platform (e.g., Apache Spark, Hadoop, Cassandra) that implementsa master node 152 and a plurality of worker nodes 154 to performdistributed computing tasks (e.g., data analysis). In some exampleembodiments, the network-based data warehouse system 102 and the cloudcomputing storage platform 104 function as a single entity, and thecluster computing platform 150 is agnostic to the decoupling andfunctions of the single entity. For instance, the network-based datawarehouse system 102 and the cloud computing storage platform 104 can beimplemented as a Snowflake data source to an Apache Spark Cluster (e.g.,an example embodiment of the cluster computing platform 150), where thetwo platforms are connected via API connector 145 such as JDBC. Althoughthe API connector 145 is shown between the network-based data warehousesystem 102 and the cluster computing platform 150, it is appreciatedthat the API connector 145 can be integrated within the network-baseddata warehouse system 102, as discussed in further detail below withreference to FIG. 2.

Further, compute service manager 112, database 116, execution platform114, cloud computing storage platform 104, cluster computing platform150, and user device 106 are shown in FIG. 1 as individual components.However, each of compute service manager 112, database 116, executionplatform 114, cloud computing storage platform 104, and clustercomputing platform 150 may be implemented as a distributed system (e.g.,distributed across multiple systems/platforms at multiple geographiclocations) connected by APIs and access information (e.g., tokens, logindata). Additionally, each of compute service manager 112, database 116,execution platform 114, and cloud computing storage platform 104 can bescaled up or down (independently of one another) depending on changes tothe requests received and the changing needs of shared data processingplatform 100. Thus, in the described embodiments, the network-based datawarehouse system 102 is dynamic and supports regular changes to meet thecurrent data processing needs.

During typical operation, the network-based data warehouse system 102processes multiple jobs (e.g., queries from cluster computing platform150) determined by the compute service manager 112. These jobs arescheduled and managed by the compute service manager 112 to determinewhen and how to execute the job. For example, the compute servicemanager 112 may divide the job into multiple discrete tasks and maydetermine what data is needed to execute each of the multiple discretetasks. The compute service manager 112 may assign each of the multiplediscrete tasks to one or more nodes of the execution platform 114 toprocess the task. The compute service manager 112 may determine whatdata is needed to process a task and further determine which nodeswithin the execution platform 114 are best suited to process the task.Some nodes may have already cached the data needed to process the task(due to the nodes having recently downloaded the data from the cloudcomputing storage platform 104 for a previous job) and, therefore, maybe a good candidate for processing the task. Metadata stored in thedatabase 116 assists the compute service manager 112 in determiningwhich nodes in the execution platform 114 have already cached at least aportion of the data needed to process the task. One or more nodes in theexecution platform 114 process the task using data cached by the nodesand, if necessary, data retrieved from the cloud computing storageplatform 104. It is desirable to retrieve as much data as possible fromcaches within the execution platform 114 because the retrieval speed istypically much faster than retrieving data from the cloud computingstorage platform 104.

As shown in FIG. 1, the shared data processing platform 100 separatesthe execution platform 114 from the cloud computing storage platform104. In this arrangement, the processing resources and cache resourcesin the execution platform 114 operate independently of the data storagedevices 124-1 to 124-n in the cloud computing storage platform 104.Thus, the computing resources and cache resources are not restricted tospecific data storage devices 124-1 to 124-n. Instead, all computingresources and all cache resources may retrieve data from, and store datato, any of the data storage resources in the cloud computing storageplatform 104.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of the compute servicemanager 112, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, a request processing service 202 managesreceived data storage requests and data retrieval requests (e.g., jobsto be performed on database data). For example, the request processingservice 202 may determine the data necessary to process a received query(e.g., a data storage request or data retrieval request). The data maybe stored in a cache within the execution platform 114 or in a datastorage device in cloud computing storage platform 104. A managementconsole service 204 supports access to various systems and processes byadministrators and other system managers. Additionally, the managementconsole service 204 may receive a request to execute a job and monitorthe workload on the system.

The result object manager 207 is configured to generate serializedresult files for storage on a staging platform and generate the objectmetadata set which is a metadata list describing the result files storedin the staging platform. The result object manager 207 includes the APIconnector 145 as a relational database connection interface forfacilitating data transfers (e.g., receiving queries and transmittingresult data) between the network-based data warehouse system 102 and thecluster computing platform 150. For example, a customer applicationrunning on cluster computing platform 150 can issue a query to thenetwork-based data warehouse system 102, which is directed towards tothe API connector 145 for parsing and forwarding as a job request to therequest processing service. Although the API connector 145 isillustrated as between the cluster computing platform 150 and thenetwork-based data warehouse system 102, in some example embodiments theAPI connector 145 is installed in the network-based data warehousesystem 102 to send and receive data to the cluster computing platform150, which may be an externally run cluster computing platform 150managed by a different company (e.g., cluster computing platform 150 canbe an Apache Spark cluster hosted by the Databricks platform or otherSpark platforms).

The compute service manager 112 also includes a job compiler 206, a joboptimizer 208 and a job executor 210. The job compiler 206 parses a jobinto multiple discrete tasks and generates the execution code for eachof the multiple discrete tasks. The job optimizer 208 determines thebest method to execute the multiple discrete tasks based on the datathat needs to be processed. The job optimizer 208 also handles variousdata pruning operations and other data optimization techniques toimprove the speed and efficiency of executing the job. The job executor210 executes the execution code for jobs received from a queue ordetermined by the compute service manager 112.

A job scheduler and coordinator 212 sends received jobs to theappropriate services or systems for compilation, optimization, anddispatch to the execution platform 114. For example, jobs may beprioritized and processed in that prioritized order. In an embodiment,the job scheduler and coordinator 212 determines a priority for internaljobs that are scheduled by the compute service manager 112 with other“outside” jobs such as user queries that may be scheduled by othersystems in the database but may utilize the same processing resources inthe execution platform 114. In some embodiments, the job scheduler andcoordinator 212 identifies or assigns particular nodes in the executionplatform 114 to process particular tasks. A virtual warehouse manager214 manages the operation of multiple virtual warehouses implemented inthe execution platform 114. As discussed below, each virtual warehouseincludes multiple execution nodes that each include a cache and aprocessor (e.g., a virtual machine, a operating system level containerexecution environment).

Additionally, the compute service manager 112 includes a configurationand metadata manager 216, which manages the information related to thedata stored in the remote data storage devices and in the local caches(i.e., the caches in execution platform 114). The configuration andmetadata manager 216 uses the metadata to determine which datamicro-partitions need to be accessed to retrieve data for processing aparticular task or job. A monitor and workload analyzer 218 overseeprocesses performed by the compute service manager 112 and manages thedistribution of tasks (e.g., workload) across the virtual warehouses andexecution nodes in the execution platform 114. The monitor and workloadanalyzer 218 also redistributes tasks, as needed, based on changingworkloads throughout the network-based data warehouse system 102 and mayfurther redistribute tasks based on a user (e.g., “external”) queryworkload that may also be processed by the execution platform 114. Theconfiguration and metadata manager 216 and the monitor and workloadanalyzer 218 are coupled to a data storage device 220. Data storagedevice 220 in FIG. 2 represents any data storage device within thenetwork-based data warehouse system 102. For example, data storagedevice 220 may represent caches in execution platform 114, storagedevices in cloud computing storage platform 104, or any other storagedevice.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating components of the executionplatform 114, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, execution platform 114 includes multiplevirtual warehouses, which are elastic clusters of compute instances,such as virtual machines. In the example illustrated, the virtualwarehouses include virtual warehouse 1, virtual warehouse 2, and virtualwarehouse n. Each virtual warehouse (e.g., EC2 duster) includes multipleexecution nodes (e.g., virtual machines) that each include a data cacheand a processor. The virtual warehouses can execute multiple tasks inparallel by using the multiple execution nodes. As discussed herein,execution platform 114 can add new virtual warehouses and drop existingvirtual warehouses in real-time based on the current processing needs ofthe systems and users. This flexibility allows the execution platform114 to quickly deploy large amounts of computing resources when neededwithout being forced to continue paying for those computing resourceswhen they are no longer needed. All virtual warehouses can access datafrom any data storage device (e.g., any storage device in cloudcomputing storage platform 104).

Although each virtual warehouse shown in FIG. 3 includes three executionnodes, a particular virtual warehouse may include any number ofexecution nodes. Further, the number of execution nodes in a virtualwarehouse is dynamic, such that new execution nodes are created whenadditional demand is present, and existing execution nodes are deletedwhen they are no longer necessary (e.g., upon a query or jobcompletion).

Each virtual warehouse is capable of accessing any of the data storagedevices 124-1 to 124-n shown in FIG. 1. Thus, the virtual warehouses arenot necessarily assigned to a specific data storage device 124-1 to124-n and, instead, can access data from any of the data storage devices124-1 to 124-n within the cloud computing storage platform 104.Similarly, each of the execution nodes shown in FIG. 3 can access datafrom any of the data storage devices 124-1 to 124-n. For instance, thestorage device 124-1 of a first user (e.g., provider account user) maybe shared with a worker node in a virtual warehouse of another user(e.g., consumer account user), such that the another user can create adatabase (e.g., read-only database) and use the data in storage device124-1 directly without needing to copy the data (e.g., copy it to a newdisk managed by the consumer account user). In some embodiments, aparticular virtual warehouse or a particular execution node may betemporarily assigned to a specific data storage device, but the virtualwarehouse or execution node may later access data from any other datastorage device.

In the example of FIG. 3, virtual warehouse 1 includes three executionnodes 302-1, 302-2, and 302-n. Execution node 302-1 includes a cache304-1 and a processor 306-1. Execution node 302-2 includes a cache 304-2and a processor 306-2. Execution node 302-n includes a cache 304-n and aprocessor 306-n. Each execution node 302-1, 302-2, and 302-n isassociated with processing one or more data storage and/or dataretrieval tasks. For example, a virtual warehouse may handle datastorage and data retrieval tasks associated with an internal service,such as a clustering service, a materialized view refresh service, afile compaction service, a storage procedure service, or a file upgradeservice. In other implementations, a particular virtual warehouse mayhandle data storage and data retrieval tasks associated with aparticular data storage system or a particular category of data.

Similar to virtual warehouse 1 discussed above, virtual warehouse 2includes three execution nodes 312-1, 312-2, and 312-n. Execution node312-1 includes a cache 314-1 and a processor 316-1. Execution node 312-2includes a cache 314-2 and a processor 316-2. Execution node 312-nincludes a cache 314-n and a processor 316-n. Additionally, virtualwarehouse 3 includes three execution nodes 322-1, 322-2, and 322-n.Execution node 322-1 includes a cache 324-1 and a processor 326-1.Execution node 322-2 includes a cache 324-2 and a processor 326-2.Execution node 322-n includes a cache 324-n and a processor 326-n.

In some embodiments, the execution nodes shown in FIG. 3 are statelesswith respect to the data the execution nodes are caching. For example,these execution nodes do not store or otherwise maintain stateinformation about the execution node, or the data being cached by aparticular execution node. Thus, in the event of an execution nodefailure, the failed node can be transparently replaced by another node.Since there is no state information associated with the failed executionnode, the new (replacement) execution node can easily replace the failednode without concern for recreating a particular state.

Although the execution nodes shown in FIG. 3 each includes one datacache and one processor, alternate embodiments may include executionnodes containing any number of processors and any number of caches.Additionally, the caches may vary in size among the different executionnodes. The caches shown in FIG. 3 store, in the local execution node(e.g., local disk), data that was retrieved from one or more datastorage devices in cloud computing storage platform 104 (e.g., S3objects recently accessed by the given node). In some exampleembodiments, the cache stores file headers and individual columns offiles as a query downloads only columns necessary for that query.

To improve cache hits and avoid overlapping redundant data stored in thenode caches, the job optimizer 208 assigns input file sets to the nodesusing a consistent hashing scheme to hash over table file names of thedata accessed (e.g., data in database 116 or storage platform 122).Subsequent or concurrent queries accessing the same table file willtherefore be performed on the same node, according to some exampleembodiments.

As discussed, the nodes and virtual warehouses may change dynamically inresponse to environmental conditions (e.g., disaster scenarios),hardware/software issues (e.g., malfunctions), or administrative changes(e.g., changing from a large cluster to smaller cluster to lower costs).In some example embodiments, when the set of nodes changes, no data isreshuffled immediately. Instead, the least recently used replacementpolicy is implemented to eventually replace the lost cache contents overmultiple jobs. Thus, the caches reduce or eliminate the bottleneckproblems occurring in platforms that consistently retrieve data fromremote storage systems. Instead of repeatedly accessing data from theremote storage devices, the systems and methods described herein accessdata from the caches in the execution nodes, which is significantlyfaster and avoids the bottleneck problem discussed above. In someembodiments, the caches are implemented using high-speed memory devicesthat provide fast access to the cached data. Each cache can store datafrom any of the storage devices in the cloud computing storage platform104.

Further, the cache resources and computing resources may vary betweendifferent execution nodes. For example, one execution node may containsignificant computing resources and minimal cache resources, making theexecution node useful for tasks that require significant computingresources. Another execution node may contain significant cacheresources and minimal computing resources, making this execution nodeuseful for tasks that require caching of large amounts of data. Yetanother execution node may contain cache resources providing fasterinput-output operations, useful for tasks that require fast scanning oflarge amounts of data. In some embodiments, the execution platform 114implements skew handling to distribute work amongst the cache resourcesand computing resources associated with a particular execution, wherethe distribution may be further based on the expected tasks to beperformed by the execution nodes. For example, an execution node may beassigned more processing resources if the tasks performed by theexecution node become more processor-intensive. Similarly, an executionnode may be assigned more cache resources if the tasks performed by theexecution node require a larger cache capacity. Further, some nodes maybe executing much slower than others due to various issues (e.g.,virtualization issues, network overhead). In some example embodiments,the imbalances are addressed at the scan level using a file stealingscheme. In particular, whenever a node process completes scanning itsset of input files, it requests additional files from other nodes. Ifthe one of the other nodes receives such a request, the node analyzesits own set (e.g., how many files are left in the input file set whenthe request is received), and then transfers ownership of one or more ofthe remaining files for the duration of the current job (e.g., query).The requesting node (e.g., the file stealing node) then receives thedata (e.g., header data) and downloads the files from the cloudcomputing storage platform 104 (e.g., from data storage device 124-1),and does not download the files from the transferring node. In this way,lagging nodes can transfer files via file stealing in a way that doesnot worsen the load on the lagging nodes.

Although virtual warehouses 1, 2, and n are associated with the sameexecution platform 114, the virtual warehouses may be implemented usingmultiple computing systems at multiple geographic locations. Forexample, virtual warehouse 1 can be implemented by a computing system ata first geographic location, while virtual warehouses 2 and n areimplemented by another computing system at a second geographic location.In some embodiments, these different computing systems are cloud-basedcomputing systems maintained by one or more different entities.

Additionally, each virtual warehouse is shown in FIG. 3 as havingmultiple execution nodes. The multiple execution nodes associated witheach virtual warehouse may be implemented using multiple computingsystems at multiple geographic locations. For example, an instance ofvirtual warehouse 1 implements execution nodes 302-1 and 302-2 on onecomputing platform at a geographic location and implements executionnode 302-n at a different computing platform at another geographiclocation. Selecting particular computing systems to implement anexecution node may depend on various factors, such as the level ofresources needed for a particular execution node (e.g., processingresource requirements and cache requirements), the resources availableat particular computing systems, communication capabilities of networkswithin a geographic location or between geographic locations, and whichcomputing systems are already implementing other execution nodes in thevirtual warehouse.

Execution platform 114 is also fault tolerant. For example, if onevirtual warehouse fails, that virtual warehouse is quickly replaced witha different virtual warehouse at a different geographic location.

A particular execution platform 114 may include any number of virtualwarehouses. Additionally, the number of virtual warehouses in aparticular execution platform is dynamic, such that new virtualwarehouses are created when additional processing and/or cachingresources are needed. Similarly, existing virtual warehouses may bedeleted when the resources associated with the virtual warehouse are nolonger necessary.

In some embodiments, the virtual warehouses may operate on the same datain cloud computing storage platform 104, but each virtual warehouse hasits own execution nodes with independent processing and cachingresources. This configuration allows requests on different virtualwarehouses to be processed independently and with no interferencebetween the requests. This independent processing, combined with theability to dynamically add and remove virtual warehouses, supports theaddition of new processing capacity for new users without impacting theperformance observed by the existing users.

FIG. 4 shows an example metadata connector architecture 400 fordistributed cluster computing, according to some example embodiments. Inthe example illustrated in FIG. 4, the cluster computing platform 150comprises user code 420 (e.g., end-user code, queries, a Sparkapplication, etc.) that processes data in a cluster approach usingmaster node 425 (e.g., a driver node) and a plurality of worker nodes430. The cluster computing platform 150 is configured to use thenetwork-based data warehouse system 102 as a relational data source viathe API connector 145 (e.g., a JDBC connector). In the example, the usercode 420 includes a query in the format for the API connector 145 (e.g.,“ExecuteQuery”) which then executes the query against the network-baseddata warehouse system 102 in the query format for the network-based datawarehouse system 102 (e.g., “execute”). The network-based data warehousesystem 102 implements one or more virtual warehouses and storage devicesin a decoupled scalable approach as discussed above with reference toFIG. 1-3 to generate query data 407 (e.g., query results), which areused to generate result files 410.

In some example embodiments the result files 410 are serialized objectsusing a serialization interface (e.g., Java serialization, result files1, 2, 3, . . . , n, a serialized file in JSON, which can be decompressedon workers). For example, the network-based data warehouse system 102implements Java serialization interface in construction the objects(e.g., import.java.io.serializable to serialize using ObjectOutputStreamclass using the writeObject( ) method). The serialization of the objectsstores the object state to a sequence of bytes and stores the process ofrebuilding to bytes into a processable object that can be processed at alater time (e.g., rebuilding and processing on a given worker node). Insome example embodiments, the query data 407 is returned as JSON data,which is then used to create a serialized object, where the schema andvariable values are persisted in the serialization interface to allowthe result files to be compressed as serialized objects for storage onS3, then distributed to the worker nodes by worker node requests, andthen decompressed (e.g., deserialized, restored) for each worker node.In some example embodiments, the serialization variables for which stateis stored include: column names from tables that are queried, indiceswhere what data is serialized or persisted can change based on the databeing queried (e.g., data in the network-based data warehouse system102, schema, table amount, type of data, etc., that is being queried bycluster computing platform 150). The size of the objects serialized andstored to a staging platform 405 can vary according to implementation(e.g., set up a large file size to reduce an amount of result files, orset up small file size to increase file amount but rely on additionalworker nodes to increase distributed performance). Although JSON isdiscussed in the examples here, it is appreciated that the objects canbe constructed and serialized in Arrow format and additional binaryformats.

The network-based data warehouse system 102 then stores the result files410 to a staging platform 405. The staging platform 405 can be a cloudstorage database (e.g., S3) that is elastic and can scale to handlelarge amounts of result files and connections from the cluster computingplatform 150 (e.g., worker node requests).

As discussed, if the master node 425 accesses the result files 410 inthe staging platform 405 (e.g., to retrieve it and determine a plan fordistributed the data to workers) a bottleneck can occur as the size ofthe result files increases. To avoid bottlenecks and to enablescalability, the snowflake platform constructs an object metadata set(e.g., wrapper, envelope) that describes the data in the platform 405and transmits the object metadata set to the API connector 145 to sendto the duster computing platform 150. For example, and in accordancewith some example embodiments, the network-based data warehouse system102 includes in the object metadata set: the first chunk (the actualresult file object), and file URLs, row counts, compressed/uncompressedsizes, and credential data for the other chunks of the result files 410still in the staging platform 405.

The API connector 145 receives the object metadata set, does not read orneed to modify it, and sends it to the cluster computing platform 150,e.g., to the master node 425. In this way, even if the amount of resultfiles is extremely large, the object metadata set describing the resultfiles is still small and easy to process and send. Continuing, themaster node 425 then distributes the individual objects in the objectmetadata set to the worker nodes using distribution and optimizationsnative to the cluster computing platform 150. For example, if thecluster computing platform 150 is Apache Spark, then the master node 425distributes the objects to the worker nodes 430 as RDDs, wheredistribution of RDDs and ordering is handled by the native optimizationsinternal to Apache Spark. It is appreciated that although Apache Sparkis used here as an example, the cluster computing platform 150 can beother cluster mode platforms such as Cassandra or Hadoop. In theseexample implementations, the cluster systems can still easily receiveand distribute the objects for computation. For example, the clustercomputing platform 150 can be Hadoop and can efficiently distribute theserializable storage objects to nodes, which can then rapidly access thedata on the stating platform 405, decompress it, and perform furtheractions per the Hadoop application (e.g., MapReduce operations) in asimilar manner.

Continuing, the worker nodes 430 receive the objects and then use theconnector function call 415 to retrieve the result files assigned torespective workers from the staging platform 405. For example, asillustrated, worker 2 calls the function “getResultSet( )” to theconnector JDBC_2 to get a standard JDBC ResultSet object comprisingresult file 2 on the staging platform 405, where the returned data isdecompressed (e.g., JSON deserializer). The getResultSet( ) function ismapped to the standard getResult( ) call native to JDBC in the APIconnector 145 (e.g., the connector code is extended or modified to storethe mapping), according to some example embodiments. Similarly, worker 3calls the function “getResultSet” to the connector JDBC_3 to get astandard JDBC ResultSet object comprising result file 3 on the stagingplatform 405, and additional worker nodes can likewise access result setdata of additional result files (e.g., worker node n using JDBC_n toreceive ResultSet n). In the illustrated example, the first worker nodedoes not access the first chunk (e.g., result file 1) as that file wasincluded in the object metadata set (e.g., where the result file 1 orfirst chunk of a Result Set is typically small, it is included in themetadata objects sent via the API connector 145). Further, according tosome example embodiments, the connector function call 415 are calls tothe API connector 145, while in other example embodiments, each of theJDBC_1, JDBC_2, JDBC_3, JDBC_n, etc., are separate instances of anindividual API connector installed for each worker node. Continuing,once the worker nodes 430 download their assigned respective portions ofthe result data via HTTP URL and decompress it, each worker node thencan perform analysis and further per the user code 420 (e.g., furtherprocessing, queries, filtering generating visualizations, and otheractions instructed by an end-user).

In some example embodiments, the result files 410 are stored as objectsin the staging platform 405 for a pre-configured time period to enablerapid reprocessing of the queried data by the worker nodes at a latertime. For example, the result files 410 for a given query are stored onthe staging platform 405 for 36 hours (e.g., a session) to enable theworkers to rapidly reprocess and deserialize the queried data withoutcreating new result files and defining new serializations. Further,according to some example embodiments, the credentials used by theworkers (e.g., received from the envelope) expire to increase security(e.g., worker 2's credentials to access result file 2 on stagingplatform 405 expires within 6 hours).

FIG. 5 flow diagram of a method 500 for generating result files andobject metadata set items for cluster computing processing, according tosome example embodiments. At operation 505, the computing clusterconnects to a data source against which the computing cluster canexecute queries. For example, at operation 505, master node of thecluster computing platform 150 is connected to the network-based datawarehouse system 102 via an API connector, such as API connector 145.

At operation 510, the network-based data warehouse system 102 receives aquery from the cluster. For example, at operation 510, a customerapplication on the cluster computing platform 150 executes a query whichis transmitted through the API connector 145 to the network-based datawarehouse system 102 for processing against databases managed by thenetwork-based data warehouse system 102. At operation 515, thenetwork-based data warehouse system 102 executes the query. For example,the network-based data warehouse system 102 executes the query againstdata managed by the shared data processing platform 100 using thevirtual warehouses discussed with reference to FIGS. 1-3 above.

At operation 520, the network-based data warehouse system 102 generatesresult files from the query data. As discussed, the result files areserializable through API connector 145 (e.g., java.io.serializable), andcan be transferred to different systems for remote processing such asthe cluster computing platform worker nodes. At operation 525, thenetwork-based data warehouse system 102 stores the generated resultfiles. For example, at operation 525, the network-based data warehousesystem 102 stores the result files in the cloud-based staging platform,such as Amazon S3 or Microsoft Azure.

At operation 530, the network-based data warehouse system 102 generatesan object metadata set that describes the serialized data stored on thestaging platform. As discussed above, the object metadata set caninclude first result file or chunk data, and metadata describing theresult files that are stored in the staging platform, including resultfile sizes, file formats, credential or access information, file paths(e.g. network addresses, URLs), for each of the result files on thestaging platform.

At operation 535, the network-based warehouse system transmits theobject metadata set. For example, at operation 535, the network-baseddata warehouse system 102 transmits the object metadata set to thecluster computing platform 150 via the API connector 145 fordistribution to the worker nodes and further processing.

FIG. 6 shows the flow diagram of a method 600 for processing resultfiles received from the API connector, according to some exampleembodiments. At operation 605 the duster computing platform 150 receivesthe object metadata set. For example, at operation 605, the master nodeof the cluster computing platform 150 receives the object metadata setfrom the API connector 145. At operation 610, the cluster computingplatform 150 distributes object metadata set items. For example, atoperation 610, the master node of cluster computing platform 150distributes the object metadata set amongst its worker nodes, e.g., onemetadata item per worker node, where each of the metadata objectsenables the recipient worker node to retrieve one of the result files onthe staging platform for processing.

At operation 615, the cluster computing platform 150 retrieves resultfiles from the staging platform. For example, at operation 615, theworker nodes of the cluster computing platform 150 perform a functioncall to the API connector 145 (e.g., GetResult( )) to directly accessand download result files from the staging platform. The API connector145 receives the function call from a given worker node, and returnsresult data, such as a ResultSet in JDBC, that contains the result filesin the staging platform assigned to the given node.

An operation 620, the cluster computing platform 150 parses theretrieved result files. For example, at operation 620, each of theworkers downloads the storage object result file from the stagingplatform, decompresses it (e.g., deserializes it using a JSONserializer), and stores the result data in uncompressed form forprocessing.

At operation 625, the cluster computing platform 150 performsapplication operations on the retrieved result files. For example, atoperation 625, each of the worker nodes in the cluster computingplatform 150 performs additional analytical operations (e.g., datascience operations, visualization generation operations, internal queryand data arrangement operations) using the native functionality orinstructions of the cluster computing platform 150 (e.g., Apache sparkstandard functions, Spark machine learning libraries).

At operation 630, the cluster computing platform 150 displays processedresult data on a user interface. For example, at operation 630 thecustomer application on the cluster computing platform 150 displays thedata visualization or query results on a user interface of a userdevice, such as user device 106. At operation 635, the data is resultdata is re-queried. For example, as discussed above, the stagingplatform can retain the result file objects for a limited time (e.g., 36hours) during which time the objects and serialization process for agiven set of data do not need to be reprocessed. Rather, the dataremains on the staging platform, and the duster computing platform 150can query data using the distributed serialization approach. Accordingto some example embodiments, after the retention period expires, theserialized result objects are deleted or otherwise removed from thestaging platform.

FIG. 7 shows a network lane diagram 700 for implementing clustercomputing using a metadata connector, according to some exampleembodiments. In the network lane diagram 700, each of the columns orlanes corresponds to actions performed by the different entities oftheir respective lanes. For example, in the first column, operations715, 720, and 730 are performed by the network-based data warehousesystem 102. Similarly, the API connector 145 performs operations 710,735, and 755; the cluster computing platform 150 performs operations705, 740, 745, 750, and 765; and the staging platform 405 performsoperations 725 and 760, according to some example environments. It isappreciated that although the entities are discussed and shown asseparate entities in the example of FIG. 7, the entities may be combinedor integrated as it is appreciated by those having ordinary skilled inthe art. For example, the API connector 145 may be installed as acomponent of the network-based data warehouse system 102.

At operation 705, the cluster computing platform 150 generates a query.For example, a Spark user creates or develops an Apache Spark job (e.g.,customer application) where the job is managed by the cluster computingplatform 150, e.g., the master node receives the job and generates thequery for data, where the data is managed by the network-based datawarehouse system 102. At operation 710, the API connector 145 convertsthe query for execution against the network-based data warehouse system102. At operation 715, the network-based data warehouse system 102executes the received query against one or more relational data storesto generate query result data. At operation 720, the network-based datawarehouse system 102 transmits the result files to the staging platform405, which then stores the result files at operation 725. According tosome example embodiments, the network-based data warehouse system 102serializes the result data results as serializable objects via aconnector API (Java serializable interface). At operation 730, thenetwork-based data warehouse system 102 generates metadata (e.g., theobject metadata set) that describes the files that are stored in thestaging platform 405 (e.g., address, format, location, size) and accessdata (e.g., network credentials) that the cluster computing platform 150can implement to access the stored result data. At operation 735, theAPI connector 145 receives the object metadata set. At operation 745,the master node of the cluster computing platform 150 distributes themetadata objects to each of the worker nodes. At operation 750, each ofthe worker nodes receives an object metadata item from the list andperforms a function call to the API connector 145. At operation 755, theAPI connector 145 functions as a utility for the worker nodes andexecutes the calls (e.g., GetResult( ) to return ResultSet for a givenode) to access the result files on the staging platform 405. Thestaging platform 405 then sends the results to the worker nodes atoperation 760. At operation 765, the worker nodes of the clustercomputing platform 150 processes the downloaded result files. Forexample, each of the worker nodes downloads a result file in serializedform and decompresses it, and performs further processing on the dataaccording to the customer application (e.g., analytics processing,machine learning methods, etc.).

FIG. 8 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine 800 in theform of a computer system within which a set of instructions may beexecuted for causing the machine 800 to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein, according to an example embodiment.Specifically, FIG. 8 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine800 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions816 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, orother executable code) for causing the machine 800 to perform any one ormore of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. For example,the instructions 816 may cause the machine 800 to execute any one ormore operations of any one or more of the methods 500, 600, and 700. Inthis way, the instructions 816 transform a general, non-programmedmachine into a particular machine 800 (e.g., the user device 106, theaccess management system 110, the compute service manager 112, theexecution platform 114, the access management system 118, the cloudinterface 120) that is specially configured to carry out any one of thedescribed and illustrated functions in the manner described herein.

In alternative embodiments, the machine 800 operates as a standalonedevice or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines. In anetworked deployment, the machine 800 may operate in the capacity of aserver machine or a client machine in a server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine 800 may comprise, but not be limitedto, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), atablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a smart phone, a mobiledevice, a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, or anymachine capable of executing the instructions 816, sequentially orotherwise, that specify actions to be taken by the machine 800. Further,while only a single machine 800 is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include a collection of machines 800 that individuallyor jointly execute the instructions 816 to perform any one or more ofthe methodologies discussed herein.

The machine 800 includes processors 810, memory 830, and input/output(I/O) components 850 configured to communicate with each other such asvia a bus 802. In an example embodiment, the processors 810 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing(RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor,a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio-frequencyintegrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitablecombination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 812 and aprocessor 814 that may execute the instructions 816. The term“processor” is intended to include multi-core processors 810 that maycomprise two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as“cores”) that may execute instructions 816 contemporaneously. AlthoughFIG. 8 shows multiple processors 810, the machine 800 may include asingle processor with a single core, a single processor with multiplecores (e.g., a multi-core processor), multiple processors with a singlecore, multiple processors with multiple cores, or any combinationthereof.

The memory 830 may include a main memory 832, a static memory 834, and astorage unit 836, all accessible to the processors 810 such as via thebus 802. The main memory 832, the static memory 834, and the storageunit 836 store the instructions 816 embodying any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 816 mayalso reside, completely or partially, within the main memory 832, withinthe static memory 834, within the storage unit 836, within at least oneof the processors 810 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), orany suitable combination thereof, during execution thereof by themachine 800.

The I/O components 850 include components to receive input, provideoutput, produce output, transmit information, exchange information,capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/O components 850 thatare included in a particular machine 800 will depend on the type ofmachine. For example, portable machines such as mobile phones willlikely include a touch input device or other such input mechanisms,while a headless server machine will likely not include such a touchinput device. It will be appreciated that the I/O components 850 mayinclude many other components that are not shown in FIG. 8. The I/Ocomponents 850 are grouped according to functionality merely forsimplifying the following discussion and the grouping is in no waylimiting. In various example embodiments, the I/O components 850 mayinclude output components 852 and input components 854. The outputcomponents 852 may include visual components (e.g., a display such as aplasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, aliquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)),acoustic components (e.g., speakers), other signal generators, and soforth. The input components 854 may include alphanumeric inputcomponents (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or another pointinginstrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures,or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 850 may include communication components 864 operableto couple the machine 800 to a network 880 or devices 870 via a coupling882 and a coupling 872, respectively. For example, the communicationcomponents 864 may include a network interface component or anothersuitable device to interface with the network 880. In further examples,the communication components 864 may include wired communicationcomponents, wireless communication components, cellular communicationcomponents, and other communication components to provide communicationvia other modalities. The devices 870 may be another machine or any of awide variety of peripheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupledvia a universal serial bus (USB)). For example, as noted above, themachine 800 may correspond to any one of the user device 106, the accessmanagement system 110, the compute service manager 112, the executionplatform 114, the access management system 118, the cloud interface 120.

The various memories (e.g., 830, 832, 834, and/or memory of theprocessor(s) 810 and/or the storage unit 836) may store one or more setsof instructions 816 and data structures (e.g., software) embodying orutilized by any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein. These instructions 816, when executed by the processor(s) 810,cause various operations to implement the disclosed embodiments.

As used herein, the terms “machine-storage medium,” “device-storagemedium,” and “computer-storage medium” mean the same thing and may beused interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms refer to a single ormultiple storage devices and/or media (e.g., a centralized ordistributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that storeexecutable instructions and/or data. The terms shall accordingly betaken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, andoptical and magnetic media, including memory internal or external toprocessors. Specific examples of machine-storage media, computer-storagemedia, and/or device-storage media include non-volatile memory,including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), field-programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal harddisks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROMdisks. The terms “machine-storage media,” “computer-storage media,” and“device-storage media” specifically exclude carrier waves, modulateddata signals, and other such media, at least some of which are coveredunder the term “signal medium” discussed below.

In various example embodiments, one or more portions of the network 880may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a local-area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), awide-area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan-areanetwork (MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of thepublic switched telephone network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service(POTS) network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, aWi-Fi® network, another type of network, or a combination of two or moresuch networks. For example, the network 880 or a portion of the network880 may include a wireless or cellular network, and the coupling 882 maybe a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global Systemfor Mobile communications (GSM) connection, or another type of cellularor wireless coupling. In this example, the coupling 882 may implementany of a variety of types of data transfer technology, such as SingleCarrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized(EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology,Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, thirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generationwireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, othersdefined by various standard-setting organizations, other long-rangeprotocols, or other data transfer technology.

The instructions 816 may be transmitted or received over the network 880using a transmission medium via a network interface device (e.g., anetwork interface component included in the communication components864) and utilizing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols(e.g., hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)). Similarly, the instructions816 may be transmitted or received using a transmission medium via thecoupling 872 (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices 870. Theterms “transmission medium” and “signal medium” mean the same thing andmay be used interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms “transmissionmedium” and “signal medium” shall be taken to include any intangiblemedium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying theinstructions 816 for execution by the machine 800, and include digitalor analog communications signals or other intangible media to facilitatecommunication of such software. Hence, the terms “transmission medium”and “signal medium” shall be taken to include any form of modulated datasignal, carrier wave, and so forth. The term “modulated data signal”means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set orchanged in such a manner as to encode information in the signal.

The terms “machine-readable medium,” “computer-readable medium,” and“device-readable medium” mean the same thing and may be usedinterchangeably in this disclosure. The terms are defined to includeboth machine-storage media and transmission media. Thus, the termsinclude both storage devices/media and carrier waves/modulated datasignals.

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Similarly, the methods described hereinmay be at least partially processor-implemented. For example, at leastsome of the operations of the methods 500, 600, and 700 may be performedby one or more processors. The performance of certain of the operationsmay be distributed among the one or more processors, not only residingwithin a single machine, but also deployed across a number of machines.In some example embodiments, the processor or processors may be locatedin a single location (e.g., within a home environment, an officeenvironment, or a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been describedwith reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident thatvarious modifications and changes may be made to these embodimentswithout departing from the broader scope of the inventive subjectmatter. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regardedin an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The accompanyingdrawings that form a part hereof show, by way of illustration, and notof limitation, specific embodiments in which the subject matter may bepracticed. The embodiments illustrated are described in sufficientdetail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachingsdisclosed herein. Other embodiments may be used and derived therefrom,such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be madewithout departing from the scope of this disclosure. This DetailedDescription, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and thescope of various embodiments is defined only by the appended claims,along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims areentitled.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent, to those of skill inthe art, upon reviewing the above description.

In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patentdocuments, to include one or more than one, independent of any otherinstances or usages of “at least one” or “one or more.” In thisdocument, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that“A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unlessotherwise indicated. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and“in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respectiveterms “comprising” and “wherein.” Also, in the following claims, theterms “including” and “comprising” are open-ended; that is, a system,device, article, or process that includes elements in addition to thoselisted after such a term in a claim is still deemed to fall within thescope of that claim.

Examples

Example 1 is a method comprising: receiving, by a database connectorinterface, using one or more processors of a machine, a query against adistributed database, the query received from an external computingcluster comprising a master node and a plurality of worker nodes, thedistributed database generating serialized result files for the queryand storing the serialized result files in a staging database;transmitting, by the database connector interface, an object metadataset to the master node of the external computing cluster, the objectmetadata set comprising a plurality of object metadata set items, eachof the plurality of object metadata set items describing access data ofone of the serialized result files in the staging database; receiving,by the database connector interface, from the plurality of worker nodes,requests for the serialized result files stored in the staging database,each of the requests generated using one of the plurality of objectmetadata set items; and transmitting, by the database connectorinterface, the serialized result files from the staging database to theplurality of worker nodes of the external computing cluster, theplurality of worker nodes receiving the serialized result files andperforming further processing on the serialized result files.

In Example 2, the subject matter of 1, further optionally comprising,wherein each of the plurality of object metadata set items comprisesnetwork address data of one of the serialized result files in thestaging database.

In Example 3, the subject matter of any one of examples 1 or 2, furtheroptionally comprising, wherein each of the plurality of object metadataset items comprises credential data to access the serialized resultfiles in the staging database.

In Example 4, the subject matter of any one of examples 1 to 3, furtheroptionally comprising, wherein the plurality of worker nodes receive theplurality of metadata set items from the master node and the pluralityof worker nodes generate the requests for the serialized result filesusing the network address data in the received plurality of metadata setitems.

In Example 5, the subject matter of any one of examples 1 to 4, furtheroptionally comprising, generating, by the distributed database, queryresults using the query received from the external computing cluster.

In Example 6, the subject matter of any one of examples 1 to 5, furtheroptionally comprising, generating the serialized result files using thequery results, the serialized result files generated using aserialization interface of the database connector interface, wherein theserialized result files generated using the serialization interface aredistributable across a network for remote processing.

In Example 7, the subject matter of any one of examples 1 to 6, furtheroptionally comprising, wherein the serialized result files store statedata of the query results using the serialization interface.

In Example 8, the subject matter of any one of examples 1 to 7, furtheroptionally comprising, wherein the state data comprises schema of thequery results generated for the query.

In Example 9, the subject matter of any one of examples 1 to 8, furtheroptionally comprising, wherein the further processing performed by theplurality of worker nodes comprises decompressing the serialized resultfiles.

In Example 10, the subject matter of any one of examples 1 to 9, furtheroptionally comprising, wherein the serialized result files aredecompressed by deserializing the serialized result files used torestore the state data.

In Example 11, the subject matter of any one of examples 1 to 10,further optionally comprising, wherein the further processing performedby the plurality of worker nodes comprises instructions generated from acluster computing application hosted by the external computing cluster.

In Example 12, the subject matter of any one of examples 1 to 11,further optionally comprising, wherein the distributed database is arelational database and the database connector interface is a relationaldatabase application programming interface (API) connector.

Example 13 is a system comprising: one or more processors of a machine;and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the machine to perform operations implementing any oneof example methods 1 to 12.

Example 14 is a machine-readable storage device embodying instructionsthat, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to performoperations implementing one of methods 1 to 12.

1. A method comprising: receiving, by a database connector, using one ormore processors of a machine, a query against a database, the queryreceived from a computing cluster comprising a plurality of nodes;generating serialized files from result files generated by the database,the serialized files generated by converting data objects of the resultfiles to data streams; storing the serialized files in a results datastore; transmitting, by the database connector, a plurality of metadataitems to the computing cluster, the plurality of metadata itemscomprising access data for access by the plurality of nodes to theserialized files in the results data store; receiving, by the databaseconnector, from the plurality of nodes, requests for the serializedfiles stored in the result data store, each of the requests generatedusing one or more of the plurality of metadata items; and transmitting,by the database connector, the serialized files to the plurality ofnodes of the computing cluster.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theplurality of nodes restore the result files generated by the database byconverting the data streams of the received serialized files into thedata objects of the result files.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein eachof the plurality of metadata items comprises network address data of oneof the serialized files in the results data store.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, wherein one of the plurality of nodes distributes the pluralityof metadata items to other nodes of the plurality of nodes, and theother nodes generate requests for serialized files using the networkaddress data in the plurality of metadata items.
 5. The method of claim1, wherein each of the plurality of metadata items comprises credentialdata to access the serialized files in the results data store.
 6. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the database connector is integrated in thedatabase, and wherein the method further comprises: generating, by thedatabase, query results using the query received from the computingcluster.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: generating theserialized files using the query results, the serialized files generatedusing a serialization interface of the database connector, wherein theserialized files generated using the serialization interface aredistributable across a network for further processing.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the serialized files store state data of the queryresults using the serialization interface.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the state data comprises schema of the query results generatedfor the query.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of nodesperform further processing comprising decompressing the serializedfiles.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the serialized files aredecompressed by deserializing the serialized files used to restore thestate data.
 12. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of nodesperform processing on the restored result files comprising applicationoperations of a cluster computing application input into the computingcluster.
 13. A system comprising: one or more processors of a machine;and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:receiving, by a database connector, using one or more processors of amachine, a query against a database, the query received from a computingcluster comprising a plurality of nodes; generating serialized filesfrom result files generated by the database, the serialized filesgenerated by converting data objects of the result files to datastreams; storing the serialized files in a results data store;transmitting, by the database connector, a plurality of metadata itemsto the computing cluster, the plurality of metadata items comprisingaccess data for access by the plurality of nodes to the serialized filesin the results data store; receiving, by the database connector, fromthe plurality of nodes, requests for the serialized files stored in theresult data store, each of the requests generated using one or more ofthe plurality of metadata items; and transmitting, by the databaseconnector, the serialized files to the plurality of nodes of thecomputing cluster.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the plurality ofnodes restore the result files generated by the database by convertingthe data streams of the received serialized files into the data objectsof the result files.
 15. The system of claim 13, wherein each of theplurality of metadata items comprises network address data of one of theserialized files in the results data store.
 16. The system of claim 15,wherein one of the plurality of nodes distributes the plurality ofmetadata items to other nodes of the plurality of nodes, and the othernodes generate requests for serialized files using the network addressdata in the plurality of metadata items.
 17. The system of claim 13,wherein each of the plurality of metadata items comprises credentialdata to access the serialized files in the results data store.
 18. Thesystem of claim 14, the operations further comprising: generating, bythe database, query results using the query received from the computingcluster.
 19. The system of claim 18, further comprising: generating theserialized files using the query results, the serialized files generatedusing a serialization interface of the database, wherein the serializedfiles generated using the serialization interface are distributableacross a network for further processing.
 20. The system of claim 19,wherein the serialized files store state data of the query results usingthe serialization interface.
 21. The system of claim 20, wherein thestate data comprises schema of the query results generated for thequery.
 22. The system of claim 21, wherein the plurality of nodesperform further processing on the serialized files comprising:decompressing the serialized files.
 23. The system of claim 22, whereinthe serialized files are decompressed by deserializing the serializedfiles used to restore the state data.
 24. The system of claim 14,wherein the plurality of nodes perform processing on the restored resultfiles comprising application operations of a cluster computingapplication input into the computing cluster.
 25. A machine-readablestorage device embodying instructions that, when executed by a machine,cause the machine to perform operations comprising: receiving, by adatabase connector, using one or more processors of a machine, a queryagainst a database, the query received from a computing clustercomprising a plurality of nodes; generating serialized files from resultfiles generated by the database, the serialized files generated byconverting data objects of the result files to data streams; storing theserialized files in a results data store; transmitting, by the databaseconnector, a plurality of metadata items to the computing cluster, theplurality of metadata items comprising access data for access by theplurality of nodes to the serialized files in the results data store;receiving, by the database connector, from the plurality of nodes,requests for the serialized files stored in the result data store, eachof the requests generated using one or more of the plurality of metadataitems; and transmitting, by the database connector, the serialized filesto the plurality of nodes of the computing cluster.
 26. Themachine-readable storage device of claim 25, wherein the plurality ofnodes restore the result files generated by the database by convertingthe data streams of the received serialized files into the data objectsof the result files.
 27. The machine-readable storage device of claim25, wherein each of the plurality of metadata items comprises networkaddress data of one of the serialized files in the results data store;and wherein one of the plurality of nodes distributes the plurality ofmetadata items to other nodes of the plurality of nodes, and the othernodes generate requests for serialized files using the network addressdata in the plurality of metadata items.
 28. The machine-readablestorage device of claim 25, wherein each of the plurality of metadataitems comprises credential data to access the serialized files in theresults data store.
 29. The machine-readable storage device of claim 25,the operations further comprising: generating, by the database, queryresults using the query received from the computing cluster; andgenerating the serialized files using the query results, the serializedfiles generated using a serialization interface of the databaseconnector, wherein the serialized files generated using theserialization interface are distributable across a network for furtherprocessing.
 30. The machine-readable storage device of claim 26, whereinthe plurality of nodes perform processing on the restored result filescomprising application operations of a cluster computing applicationinput into the computing cluster.